. Adventures with animals and plants. Biology. 292 Why Living Things Behave As They Do unit v. Fig. 274 In the Hampton Court Palace gardens m England a maze was constructed by planting a hedge in an elaborate design. Habits. If you look back to the figures which showed the rat's success in finding its way through a maze on successive days you will see that it accomplished its task faster on the second day than on the first. We say that it had begun to "learn," whatever that may mean. After several days it had learned its way still better. In other words there are all degrees of learn
. Adventures with animals and plants. Biology. 292 Why Living Things Behave As They Do unit v. Fig. 274 In the Hampton Court Palace gardens m England a maze was constructed by planting a hedge in an elaborate design. Habits. If you look back to the figures which showed the rat's success in finding its way through a maze on successive days you will see that it accomplished its task faster on the second day than on the first. We say that it had begun to "learn," whatever that may mean. After several days it had learned its way still better. In other words there are all degrees of learning. When an animal has repeated an act often enough and particularly if it has met with reward, the learning be- comes complete. The act then appears almost like a reflex. Yet it is not a reflex, because, as you know, a reflex is inborn, not learned. This kind of completely learned act is called a habit. The fish that rises to the surface of the tank every morning at eight o'clock because you have made a practice of feeding it at that time has learned completely to respond in a certain way; it has developed a habit. Habits and reflexes compared. A habit may become so firmly established that it is performed with as much regularity and with almost as much speed as a re- flex. That is, it becomes automatic; you do not think about it. In this respect, it is like a reflex act. But it differs from a true reflex in that a reflex is inborn and requires no learning; a habit is learned. The man who through a quick response avoids an accident in his car has acquired habits; he has learned certain actions so perfectly that he can respond \\'ith great speed. There is another great difference be- tween habits and reflexes: reflex or in- stinctive behavior in a certain species of animal is identical in all members of the species, for these animals are born with a complete pattern for reflexes laid down in their nervous system. But the habits of one animal may or may not be like. Please note
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookpublisherbostondcheath, booksubjectbiology
